Maintenance

Nasty bucket of gross snail carcasses.

We've arrived at the unglamorous reality of home-garden care. This includes the killing of snails, which feels more like genocide. I am not fond of crushing snails, so I imagined that putting them into a bucket of soapy water, as Martha Stewart suggested, would limit my sense of guilt. Turns out their death is prolonged. I found myself pushing back snails into the water as they desperately attempted to escape! Not fun.

I learned tonight about Agapanthus Hotel, which is what I call the squatting spot of so many snails. They are certainly uninvited guests. They don't even taste that great. French people are weird.

I have educated myself about Bermuda Grass, crab grass, and worst of all, Oxalis.  I feel like I'm pulling some girl's pony tail as I visciously yank these from the ground.

I found myself uttering obscenities at snails as I found so many feasting on the crumbs of what used to be leaves on our Stock. There I was in my sweats with a flash light at 11pm and a bucket of snails swearing outloud.

The Orchard after weeding.

But the yard is looking better. We are weeding everything. I have planted lawn seeds in tufts that were dead from oxalis.

The Orchard before weeding.

I noticed our neighbor has 8 million bright pink geranium blossoms. We had about five. I consulted a friend online. She suggested high-magnesium plant food. I sprinkled our geranium like a flavorless platter.

Unfortunately, I think we'll have to skip on the planting of the rest of the vegetable seeds. The earth needs compost, tilling, sand, and all sorts of maintenance. We are in dire need of mulch too. Wish us luck!